Improved construction of railways



thiittd' tatt @wwf @hitte Letters Patent N 97,224, dated November 23,1869.

#fd-...M

IMPROVED CONSTRUCTION OF RAILWAYS.

The Schedule referred to in these Letters Patent and making peutl o! thesame4 To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JOHN H. PHILLIPS, of the cit-y of Washington, countyof ivashington, and District of Goluinbia, have invented a new andimproved Mode of Constructing a Railroad or lerinanent Way; and I dohereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact descriptionthereof, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to theletters ot reteretico marked thereon, in which- Fgure l is a perspectiveview ot' a sect-ion of the saine, constructed in the niannerhereinatterdescribed.

Figures 2 and 3 are transverse vertical sections' through the centre ot'the chairs, showing the adaptability of the chair to either the. T orordinary flanged rail.

h 1re 1 1 represents the inode of bolting either forin oi' rail to thechair onA separate sides of thc track, dispensing with the continuoustie ll. 4 vFigure 5 is a' longitudinal vertical section through ear aandchair A.

In the construction of railways, the use'ot' wooden ties or sleepers,must shortly, in the natural course ot' events, be abandoned'ir want ofmaterial to supply the demand, and in many countries, and even certainsections ot' the United States, at the present time, the desired qualitycan only be obtained by transporting it sncli a distance as to renderits costnearly it' not quite equal to that ot' other material, such asiron and stone, which is often to be found where thnber is niost scarce,and which, though niore cost-ly in most localities at present, would,even in such localities, beftbund niosteconomical in the long run, ouaccount of its perinaiiency and durability.

`ll)itiiculties have, however, been heretofore experienced in the useoi" such uiaterials: tirst, in securing the rail to the stone, onaccount ot1 the continual jar upon the rail, tendingl to draw thespikes; and secondly, ou account of thc unyielding nature of theniaterial, when solidly bedded, beingr injurious to therolling stock, ithaving been satisfactorily demonstrated that a certain aniount ot'iiexibilit-y in the road is necessary to its durability, and also tothat ot' the rolling stock employed thereon.

My present invention consists in a novel construction of thesubstructure of a railway, composed of' stone, concrete, or iron chairs,bound togi-ithcr by iron ties, and so fashioned as to support and holdthe rails tirnily together and in place.

To enable others skilled in the art to inakc. and use niy invention, Iwill proceed to describe its construction and operation.

A A are solid stone, concrete, or cast-iron concavoconvexy sills orchairs, ot' t'orin and size best adapted to give strength apd solidityto the substructure of the road. ln the present case, it will only benecessary to describe the application ot' iron chairs,fwhich have castwith and upon the outersurtace ot' the saine, twoprojections oi' ears, oand i, tbrniing a channel or fgroove, in which the rail rests.`

lhese projections inay be streiigtheued by ribs or braces, b b, and thechair itself may be likewise strengthened by other and additional ribs,extending i'roni its apex radially downward on its external surface, andthel pointoi greatest pressure at the centre ot' the chair, ina-y,iffound necessary, be similarly support-ed by tlie transverse rib'm, onthe uinler side. ln the use ot' cast-ironchairs, as above described,V sutlii-ient elasticity may be secured to the rail, ti'oin the convexforni of the chair, thc niore especially. that while it tends constantlyand tirinly to clutch and bcconie part of the bed ot' the road, itwillhave the. elastic torce ofthe 1iecessarily-coinpressed.air between itsinncr upper surface. and the bed beneath.

But to remedy anypossible deticiencyin the amount of' elasticityrequired, I propose the. pzickiug`7 of wood, rubber, or other suitab'hlmaterial, in a cell, con struc-ted on the top of the choir i'or thepurpose, and Secured iu'place beneath the rail by shoulders and in orderto give elasticity ot' niotion to the rail, the perforan'von in theraily through which the tic d passes, should beslightly elongatedvertically; and to insure an even bearing of the rail longitudinally,and preventtheI packing k ii'oin displacement, thc bottoni of the' cellshould be curved concentrically with thc upper part ot' the. chair, andthe packing corrcspiindingly shaped .on its under side, so as to bethicker :it-its twoendsthnn in the uiiddle. l

The outer ear u ofthe chair, and the corresponding pointot' the rail inthe aforesaid groove. are pert'orated for the passage through the saineot' the tie d.

This tie niay be wrought in one piece, with collars li hl :it suitableand equal distances apart, so that when in place, the respective collarsniay coinc tlush with` or have an equal bearing against the inner sideofthe rails. i

A nut, -i, is then screwed upon the outer end ot' the tie, bearing,rrinly against the ear a. thus holdingthc rail and chair together, :indit' need he, niay be scoured to its place h v a key passing through aslot in the outer-puliet-ting end oi' the tie` It will thus be seen thatthe. displacement oi' thc rail is impossible.

The sillv opposite inay he so constructed as to adniit the other end ofthe tic to drop into position through a dovetti.il-shapcd opening, i',and a dovctail key atterward inserted therein, and then bolted. ll'stone. or concrete chairs be employed, the strain upon the outer ear maybc readily resisted, by enlarging its dinicu- Sions.

Roads constructed on this plan, in'ay ilse either the T- shaped or theordinary flanged rail.

In the lattt ry ease, the channel of the chair nmsc he adapted, inshape, to thel l'orm ofthe rail, but, I prefer the former, asrepresented in tig, 3.

.ln connection with the tlnnged rail, :1 form ol' tie, :La shown at I,may he used, in which ense, the rail and sill are bolted together oneach sido of the traelt hwparntely, and not by the continuons tie. Il.Said tiel a consists o1' a broad metallic bar, with ita` ends so shaped:is to hook onthe. outer tlanges ot' the rail, and, by meant,l of clipsbolted over the inner llanges, keeps the rails at :t nnii'orm distant-eamari'. :md :it the same time binds them together.

Where the rails join, the ears may be lQnliieiently enlarged to admito'- a double tie.

A road thus constructed, will embrace, among others, the followingadvantages: The periodic renewal ol" wooden ties, and the use of Spikesand connectingelmirs will he avoided; the mil will be held firmly inplan-e with little il' any posibility ot' displacement, and additionalseenrily to llt'e bo thus aorded, whilst the newssity ol' eonstantsurveillancewith attending expenses, will bo almost entirel)1 dispensedwith. Having tlms t'nlly described my invention, \\'l1:1t .l claim :isnvm and desire to Secure by Lelitors lnlvnl', i

The wrought-iron tie-bar d, in combination with thel rail, :mdlwd-bloelt A, conalrnetod and arranglvd as and t'or the lnlrposospeeilivd.

J. ll. PHILLIPS.y \\'itm fsses:

(liao. C. Lmtnton'r, W. S. Mollier.

